The foreign ministry says that the name of Taiwan’s representative office in Lithuania was decided jointly by Taiwanese and Lithuanian authorities. The ministry’s statement on Friday comes after Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called on Lithuania’s government to “fix” the office’s formal title.
In November Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, saw the official opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania. Normally, countries do not allow Taiwan’s representative offices to use the word “Taiwanese” in their names, out of deference to Beijing’s claim to represent Taiwan internationally.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry says Lithuania and Taiwan reached a consensus on how to name Taiwan’s representative office. It also says it has not received any request from Lithuania to change the office’s name.
The foreign ministry says it stands alongside its democratic allies in support of Lithuania as the Baltic state faces intense diplomatic and economic pressure from China.
On Thursday, the European Commission launched a case at the World Trade Organization against China for its “discriminatory trade practices” against Lithuania.
In a statement, the commission says China began to “heavily restrict or de facto block imports from and exports to Lithuania” in December last year. That came in response to Lithuania and Taiwan’s decision to open representative offices in each other’s territories.